Heel



'N. A. MONFILS.

HEEL.

APPLICATlOf-l FILED NOV- 8. 1920.

Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

kg v arren s ress ersar crease.

NAPOLEON A. MONFILS, OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

HEEL.

menses.

Application filed November 8, 1920. Serial No. 422,606.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NAPOLEON A. MoNrILs, a citizen of of the United States, residing at Haverhill, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heels; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in heels for shoes, and has more particular reference to ladies wooden heels known as French heels, although it is not to be retricted to this particular type of heel.

Heels of the above mentioned type are very liable to breakage owing to the peculiar construction which embodies a central portion of relatively small crosssection. Consequently, when the heel is struck against solid objects such as curb stones and cobble stones, it is very easily broken and rendered useless.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to overcome the above mentioned difliculty by the provision of a heel of the type under consideration embodying a relatively large metallic reinforcing pin which constitutes a permanent part of the heel and prevents possible breakage of the latter.

Another and very important object of the invention is to provide a reinforced heel which is an improvement over prior devices of this class, the reinforcing pin being, according to this invention, of tubular form and bein preferably composed of comparatively soft metal so as to not only function in reinforcing the heel, but also to serve as a means for coaction with the usual fastening screw of a rubber lift which may be applied to the bottom of the heel, the soft metal permitting said attaching screw to become effectively en aged with the interior surface of the pin without the necessity of equipping the latter with internal screw-threads or the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a heel embodying the above referred to. hollow reinforcing pm which is held in place partially by means ofbeads at its opposite ends which serve to compress the fibers of the wood and thereby greatly strengthen the heel, this pin being provided with a plu Fig. 2 is a section taken at approximate right angles on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail View of the reinforcing pin provided at one end with a bead.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the lower portion of the heel showing the manner in which a lift is connected to and associated with m heel.

eferring to the drawings, wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is clearly illustrated, it will be seen that the numeral 1. designates a ladies wooden heel of French type which is here shown as being rovided with a centrally disposed verticai bore 2 which extends entirely therethrough and is provided at its opposite ends with counter-bores 3 the bottoms of which are formed with endless beads. Arranged in this bore is a reinforcing pin 4 of tubular formation. It may be mentioned that this pin is preferably composed of comparatively soft metal for animportant purpose to be hereinafter described. At its opposite ends this pin is provided with heads or beads 5 which coact with the beads in the counterbores 3 and serve to retain the pin in position. In addition to'being equipped with these retaining heads the pin is also equipped with a plurality of exteriorly disposed anchorin ribs 6 which become automatically embedded in the wall of the bore and prevent rotation of the pin When the lower bead is being formed. They also serve another function to be hereinafter set forth.

In carrying out the havention, the heel is clamped in a jig which is attached to a table It or the like on which there is a high speed drill press, the attaching end of the heel being positioned uppermost. When in this position the bore is rdrilled at the desired point so as to permit insertion of the tubular to reinforcing pin, After the bore 2. has been drilled, a. suitable countersink tool is employed to form the counterbores and heads 3 at the opposite ends of the bore 2. The heel is then ready for insertion of the reinforcing 16 pin, which in actual practice, is out from lengths of metal tubes provided with the op posed longitudinal anchoring ribs. It is, to

be noted that the pins thusc'ut should be of a length slightly greater than the length of so the heel bore. Having cut the pins into the desired lengths, each one is provided, by the means of a suitable beading tool, at the one end with an anchoring flange or bead referred to as 5. Now, by inserting the tube down- 'wardly through the bore and placing it in the position disclosed in the drawings, the

unbeaded end of the latter can likewise be provided with an anchoring flange or head.

At this point I wish to mention, that with .30 this construction, the fibers of the wood will be compressed to a considerable extent and the heel will be greatly strengthened. It isto be noted that the anchoring ribs 6 automatically embed themselves, in the wall of the bore when the reinforcing pin isbeing driven downwardly through-the latter, and, as before stated, they. prevent rotation of the pin while'the lower bead is being formed and they constitute additional means for rel-i t0 inforcing the pin itself. Furthermore, since the anchoring ribs 6 are comparatively long,

- they are permitted to serve an additional and important function. For instance, should i the heel be split or broken on a transverse line, 4 that portion which becomes separated from the body portion will be prevented from rotating with respect to the body portion. and thus properly held in place, this result being brought about the employment of the afore- 3 said ribs which serve to prevent rotation of the separated part of the heel. Therefore, even if the heel does get broken, it may be used for quite sometime in such a state, as the reinforcng pin and anchoring ribs serve 5 to prevent separation and rotation of the broken parts and the usual covering employed serves to hide the break or crack.

After the article is completed it has. the general appearance of heels now on the W market, and it is to be noted that my construction and arrangement does not many way interfere with the easy and ready attachment of the heel to a shoe. As a matter of fact, it assists in permitting efi'ective and easy attachment of a rubber lift or the like i oises which is usually connected to the bottom of the heel. The manner in which the rubber lift is associated with and connected to my heel is clearly disclosed in the detail view of Fig. 5. Attention is again directed to the fact that the reinforcing pin is preferably composed. of comparatively soft metal so that whenithe fastening screw of the lift is placed in position and forced into the lower 'end of the pin, the threads thereof will cut into the interior wall of the pin and the screw thus be engaged with the pin and in this way retain the lift in position. This manner of attaching a lift will be found extremely advantageous in that it will overcome the necessity of securing the rubber lift by means of'nails and other fastenings which may pos sibly split the heel during the attaching operation. Emphasis is to again be laid on the employment of the anchoring ribs 6 which during the attachment of the lift prevent the rotation of the pin and thus insure efivective engagement of the attaching screw of the lift with the reinforcing pin which could not be effectively accomplished if the pin was permitted to rotate.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that'l have devised an extremely advantage'ous heel which is an improvement over prior devices of this kind, one which is extremely strong and durable and owin to its simplicty, is very inexpensive to both thenianufacturer and the user. The construction which I employ will not add to the weight of the heel and in view of the proportot) tions of the" reinforcing means with respect to the heel proper, it will be seen that there is little or no chance of the heel becoming accidentally broken when struck against solid objects. These and other advantages and ice till , features of the invention have, no doubt, become apparent during the foregoing de scrfition.

ile l have shown and described my improved reinforcing pin as used in connection lit with a wooden heel, I desire to be undcrstood that it may be used to an advantage with heels constructed of other material.

Since probably the best results may be obtained with the construction and arrangement shown and described, this construction and arrangement taken as the referred embodiment of the invention.- owever,

I wish it to be understood that the various minor changes in the shape, size, and ar- 12c rangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

I claim:

As an article of manufacture, a heel pro- 1,4o1,sos

pin fitting snugly in said bore and having rolled anchoring and 4 retaining flanges formed at its opposite ends and cooperatlve with the beads insaid counter-bores, said 5 flanges having the additional function, of compressing the fibers of the heel between them to decidedly reinforce the heel, said pin being provided with a longitudina ljexteriorly disposed anchoring rib of considerable length embedded in said heel and serving the several functions described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

NAPOLEON A. MONFILS. 

